The Mission of Zeus and Iapetus
by LucianDaughterofHades
Summary: Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia and Nico are chosen to go on a quest to save Zeus from Iapetus. What will come of them? A certain death? Unexpected sparks of romance? Read and you will find out :D
1. Chapter 1

The Mission of Zeus and Iapetus

This story takes place after TLO and pretend TSON and TLH aren't 'real' yet

PERCY

Remember 3 years ago when Nico di Angelo, Thalia Grace and I chucked the titan Iapetus in the River Lethe and he lost his memory? Well, he's back... and he has his memory back. Honestly, I don't know how and when but all Chiron told Grover, Annabeth, Nico, Thalia and me was this.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Dear children, do you know why you have been summoned?" Chiron had asked._

"_No, but it better be worth it," growled Thalia. "I had to sacrifice a trip to Germany with the Hunters for this."_

"_Huh, as if you would have any fun in Germany anyway," retorted Nico._

"_Oh, you did not! Besides you haven't even been to Germany before!" Thalia shot back._

"_In your dreams, Hunter, I've been around the world since I can shadow travel, _vlacas_," Nico retaliated._

"_OK, you better watch your a-" Thalia was interrupted by Chiron._

"_That's enough. The reason I brought you is VERY important. Nico, Thalia, Percy, do you remember 3 years ago how you pushed the titan Iapetus into the River Lethe?" He asked._

_We nodded. "Well, he's back and he has his memory back," Chiron said. "Also, somehow, he's kidnapped- or should we say, godnapped- Zeus." Instantly, the five of us started talking at once, like the people's body parts fly out when you release a bomb._

"_PLEASE!" Chiron shouted over the din. "I need the five of you to save Zeus and destroy Iapetus once and for all. Are you up for it?" _

_Most of us agreed. Most as in Grover, Annabeth and me. However, Thalia and Nico frowned._

"_I want to save my dad but I'm not going anywhere with him," Thalia spat to Nico. _

_Nico scowled. "Don't look at me I'm not going anywhere with her, and why do I have to save Zeus? He's never been good to me," He grumbled. Thunder rumbled._

"_Come on, guys. It's not going to be that bad. Why should I be doing anything for Zeus?" I coaxed. "He's never been good to me but I'm going."_

"_Fine," Thalia and Nico grumbled together._

_END FLASHBACK_

Well, now, I'm seeking Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the mortal girl who's body hosts the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi. When I found her, I told her to come to the camp sing-a-long tonight for the prophecy. She agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

NICO

UGH! The nerve of that Hunter Girl! First she calls me 'Bianca's little brother' when I'm technically older than Bianca now. I'm 15! She would still be 12 because she stupidly decided to join the Hunt. Secondly, Hunter Girl called me 'Death Boy'. For some reason, it was fine for anyone but her to call me that. Now, I have to go on a stupid quest with her to save her father! Not fair, not fair...

I walk around the beach, thinking how the yellow sand was way too bright and the black sand next to the River Styx was so much cooler. I look around and see lovey-dovey couples have the time of their lives. I wrinkled my nose in disgust and head toward my cabin and guess who's waiting there. Hunter Girl.

I groaned and got a better idea. I looked around and noticed a nearby tree. Sun and a tree cause shadow, right? I jumped into the shadow and shadow travelled to my bed. I sighed in relief and took out my iPod. I turned on 'Holiday" by Green Day, one of my favourite songs. I cranked it up high on my speakers and forgot about Hunter Girl who was on my porch.

"Death Boy, I know you're in there!" I heard Hunter Girl call out. Sweet Hades, I forgot! My music was pretty loud so she could probably tell I was in here.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" I yell.

"Chillax, Death Boy. I only want to say something," She yelled back.

"Well, you just said something so BYE!" I yelled. I stopped my music and shadow travelled to the swords arena. I relaxed as I pulled out my black Stygian iron sword. Pure black and destruction. I carefully cleaned it with a rag that was randomly thrown on the floor.

I hummed 'Numb' by Linkin Park as I stab and skewer dummies. I'm gonna need practise if I have to go on a stupid quest.


	3. Chapter 3

THALIA

I ONLY NEEDED 1 MEETING WITH DEATH BOY! Holy Hades, that boy had some nerve! Anyway, I head to the archery field to practise. Soon, after shooting straight bulls-eyes, it's dinner time. I jog to the pavilion, thinking whether I should sit at Artemis' table or Zeus'. I decide on Zeus'. As I sacrifice the biggest strawberry to Zeus, I pray to Artemis to make sure the Hunt does not murder boys or anyone.

Eventually, it's the sing-a-long. I sit down next to Annabeth. I refuse to sit next to Death Boy. I wouldn't mind next to Percy but he's on the other side of Annabeth. The Stoll's probably had some prank on. As for Grover, I have no idea where he is. I notice Rachel had joined us.

After a few songs, Rachel stood up, her eyes growing green. 1 camper grabbed a stool. 2 prepared to catch her if she fell. "Prophecy time," I heard Percy mutter.

"_Five shall go south to the Giant's mouth,_

_Then to the east to kill the beast._

_Towards the north, for Zeus, go forth._

_Last, to the west to destroy the pest._

_If all goes well, your pride shall swell._

_If all else fails, destroy the pail."__**(A/N I know, pretty bad prophecy.)**_

With that, Rachel fell and the 2 campers caught her.

"Um, Ok, this prophecy is a bit weird," Percy said, breaking the silence.

"Isn't it always weird to you, seeing as your head is filled with kelp?" joked Annabeth. We all laughed but Percy.

"No, I mean why is the prophecy so short?" he asked, frowning. Rachel seemed to have woken up now.

"What was the prophecy?" she asked. Nico- I mean, Death Boy- quickly told her the prophecy.

"Hmm," she murmured to herself. "Obviously, the last two lines tell us what would happen if we fail and what would happen if we succeed."

I roll my eyes. "Well, duh, what else could it mean?" I muttered. I can't help myself but say that.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Rachel stated a clear statement, Hunter," He spat, emphasising 'Hunter'. "What 'pail'? Percy's pride swelling?"

Percy flushed a light pink. "Well, like I asked, why was the prophecy so short sounding?" he asked.

I noticed I forgot Chiron was there. He was having an eye conversation with Annabeth. I'm not the best at this but this is what I think they were saying telepathetically:

_A: 'For Zeus'? Does that mean there's another god in trouble?_

_C: No, not possible, child. All the gods are here._

_A: How do you know that?_

_C: I don't 'know' it. I feel it._

_A: Ugh, this prophecy is clearer than normal! It practically tells us where to go and what to do!_

_C: Yes, but prophecies often have double meanings._

ANNABETH

Can this prophecy be any confusing than clear? YES, IT CAN. Like I thought, this prophecy is obviously clear AND not clear at the same time! Go south, yeah sure, let's go to Houston, that's south. Go to the Giant's mouth. That, I'll think about. That means there's something in there we need to get. The Giant's Mouth could be a cave. The rest is like that. The last line is the most confusing. Destroy the pail? What pail? A pail is a bucket. What bucket?

Percy seemed to be able to read my thoughts. "You know, pale also means like light in colour," he said. I inwardly groaned.

"No, Seaweed Brain, it can't be that pale. Pail, P-A-I-L. It has the word 'the' in front of it, telling us that it is an object. A specific one too," I replied.

Percy groaned. "Why do you have to be so smart?" I heard him groan. I smiled.

"Well, we already have our five: Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Nico and Thalia," Chiron said. Clarisse looked somewhat relieved and disappointed at the same time. Oh well. Her loss/her gain.

"You five shall leave tomorrow morning. You have the rest of the day to work together and try to find where to go. Argus will take you to the station tomorrow morning. Everyone else, dismissed," Chiron ordered.

Percy, Thalia, Grover, Nico and I went to the Big House for a meeting.

"Firstly, where're we going?" Percy started off.

"Houston," I said instantly.

Being the douche he is, Percy had no idea where Houston was. "It's the fourth largest city in America and is in the south," I explained. Thalia groaned.

"Please don't go into another lecture," begged Thalia. I smiled.

"Why, not?" I stated sarcastically.

Everyone groaned.

"Ok, then let' go to Houston," said Percy. Grover frowned.

"Bla-ha-ha! I'm not sure about that," Grover bleated. "It's so urban! Hardly any nature!"

"Yeah, but it's south! The prophecy would only send us to big cities, right?" Thalia replied.

For the first time since before dinner, Nico said something. Well, it was more of a snort.

Nico snorted. "Huh, yea, SURE they send us to big cities. Why don't we just go to somewhere else in Texas?" he sneered sarcastically.

"Oh, why shouldn't we. Wow, you are SO smart, DEATH BOY, I'm sure no one could have figured it out the TEXAS IS FREAKIN SOUTH," Thalia shot back. It doesn't take a detective- well, maybe in Percy's case- to notice that Nico and Thalia were only bitter when they were around each other.

Grover bleated. "C'mon guys, arguing isn't going to help us," he tried. Nico and Thalia glared at each other. Thalia seemed to be sparking with electricity and a dark, cold aura seemed to surround Nico. They sniffed and their powers died down.


	4. Chapter 4

GROVER

Wow, Nico and Thalia must REALLY dislike each other! Anyway, we all agreed to go to Houston, although there are hardly any nymphs or animal spirits there. We packed out bags with plenty of ambrosia, nectar and first-aid supplies. We each took a sleeping bag and toiletries.

The next morning, we met at Thalia's pine tree. Argus was waiting for us but Nico wasn't there yet. 5 minutes later, he appeared out of the tree, like APPEARED. He had bags under his eyes and it looked like he hadn't brushed his hair. Honestly, he looked terrifying. I looked around our group. Thalia was stifling laughs, Percy and Annabeth looked somewhat concerned.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," croaked Nico, rubbing his eyes. As he reached up to rub his eyes, his sleeves well down and revealed white, pink and red scratches that looked new. This kind of spooked us. Thalia even stopped laughing quietly.

"You sure?" Thalia offered, raising an eyebrow. That's weird. She HATES Nico. That and she's faking it and is secretly enjoying his discomfort or she's literal. I'm thinking the second option...

Nico coughed. "Yeah, I'm fine," he managed. The rest of us shared looks but said nothing.

"Okay then, let's go. Argus is waiting," Annabeth said breaking the silence. We got our packs and headed down the hill.

Argus took us to the train station and from there, we headed to Houston. Suddenly, I had a really bad idea.

"Uh, guys?" I stammered. All eyes turned to me. "You know how the prophecy says, 'Five shall go south'?" I continued. They all nodded. "What if it meant not south in America but South as in the world?" I asked. Horrified silence.

More silence

"OH NO!" Annabeth shouted. "If that's the case, I WAS WRONG!" She started to sniffle a bit and Percy led her away. I shuffled uncomfortably.

"Bad idea, Goat Boy," muttered Thalia under her breath.

PERCY

Gods, I feel STUPID. I'm supposed to lead this quest and now we could be in the wrong place, Annabeth is in tears, who knows what happened to Nico and Thalia and Nico can't stay a second from killing each other.

I think that the line 'Five shall go south' tells us the direction right? SO we have to find out what the 'Giant's Mouth' is and then we would know! I suggest this to Annabeth, who's still teary.

"You could be right," she sniffled thoughtfully. "I brought Daedelus' laptop so I'll do some research until I find it." I agree and we head back to the others. Grover was watching an apparently interesting argument between a mad Thalia and an exhausted Nico.

"Green Day's better!" yelled Thalia.

"Nah, it's-yawn- Linkin Park!" yawned Nico sleepily. I noticed his black aura coming again.

"NO IT IS GREEN DA-" Thalia was cut off by Annabeth.

"CAN YOU GUYS STOP ARGUING FOR ONE HOUR!" she yelled.

We were all stunned for a minute. Thalia and Nico nodded. "Green Day's still better," Thalia muttered under her breath. Nico yawned and ignored her. Smart Nico, smart, I thought.

Half an hour later, Annabeth decided we should search Houston for a day and if nothing's here, we would head to Australia. Nico and Thalia managed to stay away from each other for the whole time which impressed me. Half the time, I was wondering what was wrong with Nico and the other half I couldn't stop thinking about the prophecy. I mean, sure go south but it ain't specific. Annabeth thinks the Giant's Mouth is some opal mine or something. I know we are on a quest but that's not going to stop me from not listening to her lectures.

After 2 hours of exploring Houston, we got attacked by hellhounds. We all fought and I noticed Nico's black aura protecting him like a shield. What was going on with him?


	5. Chapter 5

NICO

For the millionth time today, I yawned. What really happened was VERY strange indeed.

_FLASHBACK_

_I was about to go to bed when I heard some howling in the woods. This howling only comes from hellhounds. I listened again and heard the howling again. I pulled out my sword and headed to the woods. _

_There was nothing there. On my way back to my cabin, I came face to face with 3 hellhounds. I calmed myself and waited until they attacked. That was the best strategy to kill several monsters. Well, I think anyway. _

_1 minute later, they attacked. I raised my sword and killed them but not before they gave me several scratches. I headed towards my cabin and saw Hades waiting for me... or someone else._

_"Hmph, you're back at last," Hades grumbled. I bowed._

_"My lord, father," I said awkwardly._

_"I see you have bested three hellhounds and yet survived with bad injuries," he noted._

_I nodded._

_"Well, I give you a blessing of mine: whenever you feel scared or you need protection, my famous Death Aura will appear to you and protect you from harm," he said._

_"Thank you," I said and bowed again. Hades turned to black light and disappeared._

_END FLASHBACK_

I don't know whether it's a good or bad idea to tell the others. I mean, when Thalia's not trying to kill me- which is rare- she would be looking at me concernedly. The others are similar too.

Soon, we start to get tired and there seemed to be nothing in Houston. We decided to stay in a random cave we found but there was a problem. We lost 2 sleeping bags in the fight with the hellhounds.

Percy coughed. "Uh, four of us could share and someone else can take the other one?" he suggested.

"Yup, Grover can have one to himself because he's lucky and no one wants to share with a goat," Thalia stated.

"Aww, thanks, I feel loved," Grover muttered.

"So, who's sharing with who?" Annabeth said.

"I'm not with Hunter Girl, that's _hell_ no," I said and yawned.

"Ya got that right, I'm either with Annabeth or by myself," Thalia shot back. "Imma Hunter and I'm not gonna share with no boy."

Percy grimaced. "Honestly, I don't want to be with Nico, that's kinda gay, no offence," he mumbled.

"Oh none taken and I don't wanna share with you either," I said.

"How about me and Percy share and Thalia, you can share with Ni-" Annabeth came up with a 'brilliant' plan but was cut off by Thalia.

"Nuh-uh-uh, NOT going to happen," she said stubbornly. "I'm not going to share with _him_. I'm a FREAKIN HUNTER!"

"You said that," Grover noted. "And we know."

Thalia yelled. "I don't care! I'm not sharing with di Angelo," she yelped.

"That's what she said," I sniffed.

Percy rubbed his temples and groaned. "You two, stop acting immature! Thalia, I'm pretty sure Artemis won't blame you for sleeping with a boy as this mission is to save her father!" he shouted.

"Words of wisdom," Annabeth hummed.

"Fine," grumbled Thalia, "but if I'm in trouble, you'll find ALL of yourselves in the Ez Death line!"


	6. AUTHOR NOTE, PLEASE READ

**A/N**

**Hello readers,**

**As you would know, I hadn't been updating The Mission of Zeus and Iapetus lately. The reason is that my computers' stuffed up and I'm on a dead end. I'm going to finish it but I won't be updating in a while. I've also been starting some Hunger Games fanfictions and I want to finish those before I finish this, so this will be on temperary break for I don't know how long. The things with me is that sometimes, my obsessions 'take over' each other in interest, and currently, Percy Jackson has been 'beaten' by the Hunger Games so I'll start my Hunger Games stories but this one is kinda dead for now ;(.**

**I'm sorry but a new chapter could but up soon...**

**~LucianDaughterofHades**


	7. Chapter 6

ARTEMIS

I walked around the newly created Olympus. I'm quite impressed in the way Annabeth designed this place. It's amazing! I went into my room where there was a TV keeping me updated with the Hunt. Every god has a TV in there room, showing them updates and things happening to something related to them. For e.g. Aphrodite's TV shows couples and demigods going all lovey-dovey and stuff.

I noticed the 5 demigods on the mission to save Zeus were squabbling over the sleeping arrangements. I'm not please that Thalia is forced to sleep with a boy but I decide to let this pass just this once.

THALIA

Curse you Percy! This is your fault I have to sleep with Death Boy and possibly get kicked out of the Hunt!

At night, the weather had dropped considerably. We managed to make a small fire and that helped. We were all in coats and parkas except Nico. He was sitting far from the fire wearing his normal black short sleeves and black cargo shorts, looking at us as we were dogs walking on their ears. DOES HE NOT FEEL THE COLD?! I wriggled closer to the fire and felt my feet start to melt a bit. Nico raised an eyebrow at us. Finally, I couldn't stand it.

"WHAT IS WITH YOU! DO YOU NOT FEEL COLD ON A MINUS FIVE DEGREE NIGHT, WEARING SUMMER CLOTHES?!" I screeched. Everyone flinched at my yelling.

"No," he answered. My eyes must've been as big as saucers by now.

"Then how do you survive this weather? We're all freezing here," spoke up Grover.

Nico sighed. "Being a son of Hades has its perks," he confessed. "I'm used to going to cold places, being a son of the god of the Underworld. I feel the cold but it's not as bad as you guys feel it."

"That explains it," scoffed Percy. "I don't suppose you could try to make us a little warmer?"

Nico frowned. "I might be able to but then I'll be really tired," he muttered. "Here goes nothing."

He raised his hands. "Αγαπητοί Άδη, εκλιπαρώ, εμπόριο τα σώματα των άλλων να εξώθερμα ζώα μέχρι να τελειώσει αυτή η αναζήτηση," he chanted.

Translate: Dear Hades, I plead, Trade the bodies of the others to ectotherms until we finish this quest. (**A/N Google translate is fail so if you try this, it will not work! It'll be VERY different...**)

With that, Nico fainted. I suddenly felt so much warmer, like the fire had went 20 times stronger.

"Uh, does anyone else feel warm or is it just me?" I said, breaking the silence.

The others started talking at once. I heard someone say, "Yeah it's like summer now." And I heard someone else say, "It's definitely warmer," so I assumed Nico's spell worked.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey! Sorry for not updating in a long time, I forgot to tell you I went on holidays overseas where I had no computer or internet connection of a month! Also I had test so hard-core studying! So after ages, here's a new chapter!**

**PERCY**

I was the first one on watch. I helped Thalia put Nico into a sleeping bag before taking a seat on the edge of the cave. I listened to the sound of nature around us. I'm no nature freak, like Grover, but this place was quite pretty. There was a forest in front of us. Behind us was a deep continuous hall. I thought back to the prophecy: _Five shall go south to the Giant's Mouth._

If Annabeth was right, could this cave be it? She said it could be an opal mine. What if it was this cave? I stood up and quickly woke up Annabeth. She rolled over and groaned something about cows and Hera.

"Annabeth!" I whisper-yelled. "Annabeth! Come on, wake up!" I shook her shoulders a bit and she finally sat up.

"What is it, Percy? My turn for watch of something?" she yawned.

I shook my head. "I think I found a lead to the next part of out prophecy," I told her. Annabeth's eyes widened.

"Go on," she urged. I took a deep breath. I pointed down to the dark hall in this cave.

"Could this cave be the 'Giant's Mouth'?" I asked. "If you were right about the opal mine, this could lead somewhere!"

Annabeth smiled. She hugged me and muttered something about a Seaweed Brain. "Wake the others," she ordered, standing up and waking Thalia. I walked over to Grover and gave him a small nudge with my foot. Grover is a light sleeper so he woke up easily.

"Come one, guys, Percy found a lead!" Annabeth yelled.

Thalia shot up and jumped out of the sleeping bag, away from Nico.

"Really? I was having a nice dream of Lady Artemis zapping Nico," grumbled Thalia.

Nico smirked, woken up as well. "Aww Thalia, you're dreaming about me," cooed Nico.

"Yes, in a bad way, Death Breath," Thalia spat.

"Thalia, Nico, stop it," Grover interrupted. "You are giving me a migraine and satyrs don't _get_ migraines."

Thalia and Nico backed down, muttering apologies.

"Now, Percy had an idea?" Grover continued. Nico snorted.

"Huh, ol' Seaweed Brain has a brain not filled with kelp?" he sniggered to himself. Apparently, Thalia heard and stifled a giggle.

"Yes," I said, ignoring the insult. I quickly ran through what I told Annabeth.

"I think we should try going down there, just to see if Percy's correct," Annabeth stated. We agreed and broke camp. One by one, pick turned on flashlights, just to find out that Thalia's and Annabeth's were broken.

"No battery?" Nico guessed.

"No, I think the wire made of tungsten burned out," Annabeth said. Tungsten? What the Hades is tungsten?

"Well, you guys are gonna have to share with someone," Said Grover.

Annabeth swiftly walked over to me and hugged me. Grumbling profanities, Thalia stalked over to Nico, who was giving an evil grin. Muttering even more about Death Breath, we headed down the darkness.

After about 10 minutes, Thalia tripped over something and cursed. Nico grabbed her arm before Thalia face-planted into the Great Unknown. "Thanks," Thalia muttered. Nico scowled and shone the flashlight on what she had tripped on.

There was a wooden stick, leading into a large gap. If Nico hadn't caught her, she would've fallen down at least 100 meters.

"Well," Grover said, breaking the silence. "How are we getting across?"


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey! I'm on my long school holidays, so I will upload more often, like every second day? The plot thickens and I'm really enjoying writing this story. If the chapters are too short, or you have an idea you would like me to use PM me and I will think if it's possible to add more in. Thanks and enjoy the chapter :) **

**P.S Sorry if Annabeth is OOC.**

**ANNABETH**

OOH! I can SO tell that Thalia and Nico like each other. The way they act around each other is always more brash, like they're trying to impress each other. OH what am I doing?! I sound like an Aphrodite daughter!

When I saw that gaping hole, I immediately thought of what we could do. There was no wood to make a bridge or anything.

"I got an idea!" Nico and Percy shouted at the same time.

"Ok, boys, one at a time," Thalia yawned.

"Well, I'll fill the hole with water and then we can swim across," suggested Percy.

"NO!" shouted Grover, Nico and Thalia. Percy frowned. Aww he looks cute when his eyebrows are all scrunched together! Great, I sound like an Aphrodite child again!

_And what's wrong with that?_ A high pitched angry voice invaded my mind.

_Nothing, nothing_, I thought.

_Good, I thought so. _

"Or I could let the water solidify slightly and we could walk across?" Percy offered?

"Just listen to my idea first," Nico said, lazily. "We stand back, I collapse the roof a bit, rocks fall down, filling the hole, we walk across."

"That's alright," Thalia thought out loud. "But I'm not keen on the roof collapsing."

"I could summon rocks," offered Nico. Thalia shrugged. "I'm alright with that."

I nodded my consent. Grover nodded as well. Percy slouched slightly. I smiled and stood on my toes to ruffle his hair. I remember when I was taller than him. He was always embarrassed about that. Now, he's taller than me by, like, 6 inches. Percy frowned even more when I messed up his hair.

"OK, people, stand back a bit," ordered Nico. We moved back a meter and he raised his arms, muttering something about monsters. He turned to face us.

"Um, I'm not going to collapse the roof. I'm sensing a monster above us," Nico warned. "And, there's also some bad news. First, we have all our stuff, right?" We all nodded. "Good, because the cave has sealed itself."

We all gasped. "There's more," Nico continued. "We're back in the labyrinth."

We were silent for a while so that fact could sink in. "How would you know that, Nico?" I asked, trying to maintain my composure.

"The rock formation," explained Nico. "It's hard to explain but the rocks are kinda 'telling' me that we are back in the labyrinth, that these hallways are so similar to those we experienced about 3 years ago."

Grover bleated. "I'm also feeling a bad sense here, like monsters," he bleated. "Now that Nico mentioned it."

Thalia looked a bit confused. That's right, she was with the Hunt that year, she wasn't with us.

"What's bad about the labyrinth?" she asked. She didn't seem to know that we found Luke, possessed by Kronos in the labyrinth. Nico looked miffed. **(A/N: I don't remember whether Chiron or anyone told her or not so let's just pretend she doesn't know about the mission in the labyrinth.)**

"OH, it's not bad at all, if you ignore the fact your best buddy, Luke, let his body be possessed by a crazy time titan called Kronos, who shut your buddy in a golden sarcophagus," he said sarcastically.

All 4 of us looked shocked at the way Nico put it. "WHAT?!" he shouted when he saw us staring at him. Thalia paled. Percy resembled a goldfish. Grover nibbled on a tin can- don't ask where he got it from- and I probably looked just as bad.

"Did that really happen...?" Thalia breathed.

"Why don't you ask your fine cousin, Percy, as I believe he was the one to see the golden box," Nico scowled.

Why was he so cold today? I'm just gonna have to talk with this boy later.

"Percy, did that really happen?" Thalia asked Percy, gently. Percy nodded.

"THEN WHY DID NONE OF YOU TELL ME?!" she thundered. We cowered in fright and shock of Thalia. Sparks shot off her, like mini fireworks.

"We thought it was for the best," Nico muttered, being the brave one. Thalia's sparks died down and she scowled.

"Let's just get across the hole and talk about this later," she grumbled. We all agreed. Nico summoned the rocks and they made a platform to cross the hole.

"Be careful, guys, this platform will only hold when I concentrate on it so get across quickly and whatever you do, do NOT distract me," warned Nico. We nodded and scurried across quickly. Once we got to the other side of the 5m hole, Nico carefully took a few steps at a time, his arms outstretched and eyes shut in concentration. Taking slow steps, he was near the end of the platform. I noticed something scurry along the floor near my foot. It was a spider. I screamed.

Nico's eyes snapped open and his arms dropped. He lost his concentration and the platform started dropping at a rapid speed. I could hear Thalia and Nico cursing as Thalia grabbed Nico's wrist as he and the platform fell.


	10. Chapter 9

**Hi. Yes it's a but short today but this is only half of what I originally planned. See below for more info.**

**NICO**

I opened my eyes when I heard Annabeth scream. Oh shizzo this is not good. I kinda lost my concentration and I started to fall. Someone grabbed onto my wrist and grunted. I looked up and saw Thalia holding my wrist. I watched as Percy ran to Annabeth to deal with whatever happened to her.

"Ugh, how much do you weigh, you are seriously heavy," grunted Thalia. I'm tall, duh I would be heavy.

"I'm six feet tall, obviously I would be a bit heavy," I scowled.

Thalia snorted. "Huh, a bit? Try a lot," she struggled.

I was soon pulled high enough to push myself out of the hole by grabbing onto the top, kinda like when you get out of a swimming pool, only except the swimming pool is about a hundred meters deep or so.

I pushed myself out, using arm muscles that wouldn't be there if I didn't train at camp. I got out and lay on the dark floors, panting slightly while Thalia on the other hand was panting hard.

"You're seriously heavy, Nico," Thalia groaned, rubbing her arms. Ha ha, why did you not let me go, then? Wait, wait, did she call me Nico?

"Like I said, I'm tall and that counts for weight," I said. "Not to mention by muscles," I added, smirking.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Some muscles," she muttered under her breath.

"Did you call me Nico, about twenty seconds ago?" I asked out loud.

"And if I did?"she shot back. "I'm thinking we should go by first-name basis, if we have to do a stupid quest together. Calling each other names and arguing isn't going to help this quest."

Whoa, so deep.

"Hey, Annabeth, why'd you scream?" I asked finally.

"I saw a spider," she whispered, looking pale. Um... ok? I must've accidentally said that out loud because she turned and looked angry.

"All children of Athena hate spiders and spiders hate us," she raged.

"Why?" I wondered.

Annabeth snorted. "Are you really this thick-headed? And I thought Percy was bad."

"Hey!" Percy shouted.

Annabeth shrugged. "It's true! Athena's kids hate spiders and spiders hate us! Hundreds of years ago, Arachne boasted about her weaving skills and Athena got angry. Disguised as an elderly woman, Athena visited Arachne and warned her not to boast and offend the gods. Taking this lightly, Arachne forgot about it and Athena got angry. Taking off her disguise, she set a competition to see who could weave better. Afterwards, Athena discovered that Arachne's was better. Furious, Athena turned Arachne into the first spider."

Silence. "So ever since...? Spiders and Athena always had a pretty bad history, huh?" I concluded.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Were you even listening to me?"She muttered.

"Bla-ha-ha! Can we rest for a while and make camp?" Grover suggested. We agreed and walked a bit further down, away from the gaping hole of misery. We took out the sleeping bags where Thalia and I had to share again.

"I'm on watch!" called out Annabeth.

"OK and if you happen to see a spider wake up anyone but me," I called back. Thalia snickered quietly beside me while I stifled my laughter at Annabeth's furious face.

"I'll stay up with her," Percy quickly offered, standing up and hitting his head on the ceiling. Huh sucks to be tall.

"No , you have to sleep..." Annabeth and Percy quietly started whispering and arguing like an old married couple.

"They argue like a married couple," Thalia whispered in my ear, echoing my thoughts, but that's not what I was thinking of. I was thinking about the way how Thalia's breath made my body tingle, how it heated my inner self, how I felt sparks fly. I cleared my head and emptied my mind.

"Yeah," I agreed, before stepping into the sleeping bag next to Thalia. It actually wasn't that bad as I thought. Damn, if Aphrodite is messing with my mind, well I will be angry.

**A/N. Like I said at the top, the next part is in Aphrodite's POV. It's going to be shorter than this. I was going to put it together but this way, I think is more effective.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Sorry it's so short. I intended to upload earlier but I went on holidays down south to the coast in Australia. Lovely place but I will upload the next chapter today as well as a special for Christmas and New Years :)**

**APHRODITE**

Aww Thalia and Nico are so the cutest couple! They have GOT to get together! I ran to my room and switched on my TV and changed the channel to the 5 demigods on the mission to save my daddy. I zoomed in on Thalia whispering in Nico's ear. I could read his mind easily when anyone feels love. Aww! He's starting to like Thalia! All they need now is for it to grow mutual, stronger, and ADORABLE!

I concentrated on Thalia's mind. Ahh, she's thinking about the way Nico's perfect hair falls into waves in his dark, obsidian eyes. Young demigod love is so cute! I was about to channel more love in Thalia when I heard Artemis call my name.

"Aphrodite! Get your blonde mane of a hair in here or I'll kick your butt!" Artemis screeched. Rolling my eyes, I turned off my TV and strolled into the corridor.

"What in the name of HADES ARE YOU DOING TO THALIA?!" she screamed.

"Nothing?" I lied unconvincingly.

"Liar," Artemis seethed. "We are maidens, girl, get that through your head! We don't like boys or anything! Thalia will soon be out of the Hunt, your fault, and she is my best lieutenant!"

Oops. You can't undo love without suspicion.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" I offered. "You can't undo love. People will know something is going on and eventually ask each other."

"Your problem, your solution," hissed Artemis, stalking out.

That went well. Let's just hope Thalia and Nico –Thalico! That's the word!- end up together, then the dump each other. That's the best way. They can't happen to love each other then suddenly hate each other. Love doesn't work like that.

I stalked back to my room and turned my TV on again. I saw Thalia and Nico... SLEEPING TOGETHER! Aww, although they were forced to , they looked extremely happy. Thalia was using Nico's arm as a pillow and she was curled up against him. I had a sudden flash. I can see people's dreams, but only if it's about love. Thalia and Nico were dreaming about each other! They have GOT to stay together.


	12. Chapter 11

**Hi! Here's a kinda long chapter :) You people didn't want Percy, Annabeth and Thalia to die. With Thalia alive, Nico has to be as well ^.^ Sadly, that means Grover is going to die, but I won't tell you when :) Anyway, enjoy the chapter and review.**

**GROVER**

When it comes to quests and missions, I'm a VERY light sleeper. What if someone poisons us in our sleep? I always stay up and if I'm not up, I'm sleeping very lightly. Sadly, I stayed up all night listening to Percy and Annabeth badger each other and go all lovey-dovey with each other. I've no problem with it but Thalia and Nico seem to have an issue with it.

I went to sleep lightly that night after Annabeth and Percy agreed they'll stay up together. When I woke up, I noticed Nico sitting up, looking like he was meditating. I decided not to disturb him. I trotted over to Thalia and woke her up, carefully so she won't punch or zap my furry behind.

About 10 minutes later, we were ready to break camp and head on in this mysterious place. Underground is seriously scaring me a bit. Nico broke concentration and had a downcast expression. Who knows what happened?

"What's up, Nico?" Thalia bantered casually. Thalia didn't know Nico long enough that he had big tempers. Surprisingly he didn't whip up an army of skeleton warriors. Instead, he turned to Annabeth.

"What date is it?" He asked casually.

"Honestly, I don't know," Annabeth admitted. "We're in the labyrinth and time is faster, but I'll estimate the 4th of January."

"We missed Christmas," Nico murmured softly. Thalia shrugged. She was un-religious and didn't seem to care.

"You're a kid, obviously you would feel sad," she grunted, rolling her eyes. Nico turned, slightly red in the face.

"No, would you feel sad if you missed your sixteenth birthday, unknowingly?" he said angrily. "I'm older than you, I'm now sixteen."

We all gasped. Nico missed his 16th! Thalia's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh, gods, Nico, why didn't you tell us before," she asked quietly. Nico shrugged. We walked over to him and gave him a hug before he would cry or anything. Not willing to offense but Nico was still a kid, despite being 16. I don't think he would cry anyway, being silent and strong.

"Never mind, guys, let's finish this thing," he said in a monotone.

We broke camp, with guilt floating throughout our bodies. Percy was walking, slightly hunched over. Annabeth put on a poker face but we could all tell she felt sad. We celebrated Annabeth's birthday at Camp Half-Blood with all the campers. The gods even helped! I mean, it's Annabeth's Sweet 16 **(A/N I don't know if you celebrate a person's 16****th**** Bday with a big party in other countries or not but here in Australia, we do). **Percy wouldn't care whether we celebrated his party or not, him being the loyal one who doesn't want anything. Thalia isn't 16 yet and never will be, unless she is out of the Hunt. I celebrated my 16th with satyrs 11 years ago, goat years.

Thalia was walking, eyes downcast. I could tell she was thinking hard, especially when she didn't notice Nico had stopped walking and her head bumped into his back.

"Oww," Nico groaned, picking himself up from the ground.

"Sorry," Thalia muttered, letting Nico help her up.

"There's something wrong with this labyrinth," Nico announced when he and Thalia recovered from their incident.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, have you noticed we've been walking in a straight line since we turned right?" he noted.

The rest of us looked around and noticed our surroundings. There had been no twists and turns for quite a while by now.

"The prophecy!" Annabeth cried suddenly. We turned our attention to her.

"Care to share? After all, sharing is caring," rhymed Percy. We rolled our eyes at his childish-ness.

"Not unless you share poisoned food," noted Nico** (A/N LOL I always say that when I argue with my** **friend ^.^ Continue on ). **Thalia laughed while Percy stood there, thinking.

"Yes, but what if you didn't know the food was poisoned? Like if I accidentally gave a mortal ambrosia, would that be sharing or not?" Percy argued. He was gonna lose this one for sure.

"Firstly, how could you 'accidentally' give a mortal ambrosia? I'm pretty sure you know what that looks like, you knew about ambrosia and nectar for about eight years now," began Nico, bored. "Also, that's sharing, but it's not caring, really. It's more like, 'look! Here's some yummy food that I know I can eat and know you can't eat but I'm not telling you that you can't eat it.' That's not caring, it's giving someone something you know they can't take." Nico used a fake falsetto voice at 'look!'

"Nico, I don't talk like that," Percy said stupidly.

"Yes, you do," Nico stated.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"Boys, come on!" Annabeth shouted as Nico and Percy's arguing volume increased. They both shut up and turned to her.

"We are heading east right now, aren't we?" Annabeth said in her 'lecture' tone.

"I don't know, why don't you tell me," mocked Nico. He really was acting a bit rude today.

"Well, we are," Annabeth said patiently.

"Then why did you ask?" Nico mocked again.

Thalia shot him a death glare and he shut up.

"Anyway, the prophecy says to go east, didn't it?" Annabeth continued. "Actually, don't answer that," she added quickly when she saw Nico's mouth open. "Well, brace yourself, we are about to face a beast."

**THALIA**

When I heard Nico missed his birthday, I felt a pang of sympathy. I'd experienced missing my birthdays before, being in the Hunt, but we didn't have time to celebrate birthdays because we were always on the move. In Nico's case, we had time but we just forgot about it. That could be why he was a bit rude to Annabeth.

We kept walking forward after Annabeth's 'Brace Yourself' and soon found ourselves to open air.

"Where are we?" wondered Percy.

There were strange creatures about. Some were skeletons with bows and arrows. There were massive human sized spiders and weird green and white spotted creatures that seemed to resemble a TNT when irritated. There was weird zombie creatures as well. It was night time but seemed to change to day time rapidly. The place seemed to be built out of blocks, like Lego, but all squares and smooth to touch.

"This is so familiar," Annabeth muttered to herself.

"Is it? Not to me," I stated. "No monsters like this I've ever encountered in the Hunt."

"This looks like a game I used to play when I was younger. It lets you build whatever you want here," she murmured. "It kinda helps with architecture."

Nico started jumping about and snapping his fingers. "Minecraft!" he yelled in glee. "We're in the world of Minecraft!"

We stared at him dancing blankly while Annabeth nodded.

"Yes! That's what it was!" She cried. I raised my eyebrows inquisitively. Annabeth played a game Nico played? Or plays?

Nico whistled and walked around. We followed suit and we came across a chest. Nico opened it. The chest was filled with swords, axes, picks and shovels but they were a strange blue colour while others were gold. The bows were classic wood. The arrows were normal as well. Some of the swords, axes, picks and shovels were glittering strangely.

"Guys, take the diamond weapons, they're stronger and last longer," Nico instructed. "The weird glittery ones are enchanted, so they have powers and are just more cooler and more epic-er."

"That's not a word," I informed him. Nico shrugged and picked up a diamond sword. He struck the grass and it burst into flames.

"Heh heh heh, Flame four, by the looks of it," observed Nico. What does that mean?

I noticed some 'enchanted' bows near the side of the chest. None of the arrows were enchanted though. The arrows came in packs of 64. I shot an arrow into the distance, to test the enchantments. The arrow flew with strong power and once it landed, it buried itself quite deep in the ground and the ground set itself into flames. I smiled and kept the arrows and bow. I grabbed a sword, not bothering to test the power. It can surprise me when I decide to use it. I kept another set of 64 arrows with me.

Nico and Percy both took swords enchanted with Knockback and Flame. That meant when they struck something, it would fly back and set itself into flames. Annabeth took a small sword **(A/N You** **can't get daggers or small swords on Minecraft :P Made this part up)** enchanted with the same as the boys. Grover nervously picked at a pick.

"Ok, so we got weapons but what do we do now?" asked Percy.

"Monsters come out at night time so we shouldn't be destroying them," Nico said thoughtfully. "Oh and by the way, don't hit those green and white monsters. They're creepers and will blow up. To kill it, shoot an arrow at it or stab it three times really quickly." We nodded. 16 year old boy with a brain of an 8 year old. That's kinda cute.

Nico's eyes lit up suddenly and ran off again. We followed him at another chest, taking out pieces of armour. He gave each of us enchanted diamond chest-plates with leggings, boots and a helmet. Grover, however, refused and kept his own tree-bark armour. It was kinda obvious that it wasn't as strong, but he stood his ground.

"They're most likely enchanted with Fire Resistance so fire would be less dangerous for us," Nico explained.

"Ok, so now we are ready, what are we doing here?" I asked.

"Maybe we have to destroy the controller?" offered Grover thoughtfully.

"Maybe," thought Annabeth.

Nico's eyes brightened and ran off in search of something.

"He has really got to stop doing that," groaned Grover as we followed Nico.

We found him opening another chest, only it was twice as big. He seemed to have trouble so Percy went to help him. Eventually the 2 boys got the chest open. Inside was a selection of blocks in sets of 64. There was wooden planks, bricks, stone, you get the idea. I picked up a block and accidentally dropped it. The block stuck onto the ground and I couldn't pick it up again. I looked over to Nico questioningly.

"Anyone bring a pick?" Nico asked. Grover passed it forward. He gave it to me.

"You have to destroy the block and it pops back into a block like it was before," explained Annabeth. I nodded slowly, understanding.

We took out the blocks. They were quite light, even in sets of 64. Annabeth and I took 3 sets and the boys/satyr took 5, being 'strong', as they put it. Nico, however, was smaller than Percy. 1 set of blocks slipped out of his grip. I caught it and grunted. It was really getting heavy. Nico took it from me and smirked.

"Too weak?" he sniggered. I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm playfully.

"We should 'build' a house with beds and stuff just for the night while we decide what we're doing here," Percy suggested. We agreed and made a two-storey house. Teamwork!

Nico apparently plays Minecraft alot so somehow, he managed to make 5 beds with chests on the end of each bed to store our weapons and armour. Annabeth and I were on the top floor, Percy, Nico and Grover were on the bottom floor.

Annabeth and I stayed up most of the night, talking about the prophecy. At about midnight, it was hard to tell because this place's days and nights were way shorter, Nico barged up, holding a torch.

"Come on, girls, just sleep already! We can't sleep with you talking all night! We need to rest, you know!" he hissed. He didn't seem to notice he didn't have a shirt on. Whoa, that's one toned body... I thought. I quickly snapped out of it.

"Whatever, Nico, we'll be more quiet," Annabeth promised. Nico shook his head.

"Sleep, you two, you know Grover is a light sleeper! The last thing Percy and I need are 3 half-asleep zombies," he said.

"Alright, we'll sleep but put a shirt on?" I sniggered. Nico pretended to look hurt.

"I don't want the clothes I'm wearing tomorrow to be wrinkled," he said in a falsetto with fake disgust. We burst out laughing. Then, Percy barged up.

"You guys gonna be quiet? Nico, I sent you up to tell them to shut up, not for you to join their party," Percy groaned, running his hand through his hair.

"Sorry, Percy, we were just telling Nico that we were going to sleep," Annabeth coaxed Percy, standing up and hugging him. "Go down, now you need to sleep as well."

Percy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I hear anything louder than the volume we are talking at, I'm coming up whether you like it or not."

"Alright, whatever you say," Annabeth said calmly. Percy grumbled something unintelligible. He kissed Annabeth good night and head down the stairs again. Annabeth walked back to her bed and lay down, falling asleep.

Nico stood there awkwardly. "Uh, good night, Thalia?" he muttered. I smiled. He was kinda cute. Tall, skinny but toned and awkward.

"Night, Nico, mind the bed bugs don't bite," I yawned. Nico rolled his eyes and headed down the stairs.

I lay back in my bead and drifted off to sleep, only to be greeted with a dream or vision.

**_-THALIA'S DREAM (VISION)-_**

_I was greeted by Lady Artemis. This can't be good._

_"Thalia, I'm sorry but you can no longer be in the Hunt," she said sadly, shaking her head._

_I gasped. "What? What did I do?"_

_Artemis looked downcast. "You slept with a boy. I had my stupid brother if you were going to be careless in the future or not. I cannot tell you, even though I know. All I'm telling you is that it's what you WILL do in the future that reflects what you did."_

_I was quite confused. "My Lady?"_

_"I'm sorry Thalia, you're the best lieutenant I had since before Zoe, but this must be done. When you wake up, you are no longer a Hunter. You will not be immortal. You will still have your archery skills, only because it's a reward for you. I'm sorry."_

_I stood there stunned. A bright glow filled my eyes and I blacked out._

**_-END THALIA'S VISION-_**

I snapped awake in my sleep, only to find Nico shaking my shoulder on one side of the bed and Annabeth on the other side of my bed. I felt weaker than normal. I was now a normal demigod. I was no longer a Hunter.

"Thalia, finally!" shrieked Annabeth, hugging me. What?!

"What are you talking about?!" I yelped.

"You were talking in your sleep. Something about your future?" Nico asked.

I thought back to Artemis visiting me in a dream. "Well, I had a visit from a god," I murmured. Annabeth and Nico looked at each other.

"Um, yes, thank you for helping me wake up Thalia, uh yea, you can sleep now," babbled Annabeth pushing Nico slightly down the stairs.

"You could've just asked me to leave, you know," grumbled Nico, walking down the stairs. Annabeth threw a pillow at his head in retaliation.

"So what happened?" Annabeth said, turning to me.

I drew in a breath and began my story. The whole time, I couldn't help thinking I was watched by someone that wasn't Annabeth. Annabeth listened and didn't talk until I was done.

"So you're not a Hunter anymore?" Annabeth asked softly. I shook my head. Annabeth hugged me.

"Wait...doesn't that mean you're younger than Nico?" Annabeth said abruptly.

"What? No I'm older than him!" I said.

"No, you became a Hunter the day before you turned sixteen. Nico's now sixteen so doesn't that mean you're sixteen tomorrow? Or are you sixteen the next time it's December twenty-second?" Annabeth explained.

My mind was reeling. December... that already passed!

"Annabeth, December twenty-second already passed...it was last week! But I was still a Hunter..." I trailed off. It's now definite that Nico is older than me, which was sad, but when do I turn sixteen?

"Well, we should celebrate tomorrow then," Annabeth said warmly. I smiled tightly.

We walked down the steps to find Nico listening in.

"NICO!" Annabeth and I yelled at the same time. Percy snapped awake and grabbed his sword.

"What? Where is it?" he yelled. Annabeth rolled her eyes and walked over to her boyfriend and calmed him down. Grover was already clopping nervously.

I turned to Nico and slapped him on the head. He flinched.

"Why were you listening?" I asked slowly. Nico flushed pink. Aww that's kinda cute. His eyebrows scrunched together.

"I whuskindfaintrsnated..." he mumbled.

"What?" I asked.

"I was kinda...intgdherwated..."

"What?"

"Alright, alright! I was kinda interested! You happy!" he yelled.

I rolled my eyes. "I would've told you, Percy and Grover anyway you know." I slapped Nico again. Scowling, he lifted me over his shoulder and walked straight out the door, him still shirtless.

I yelped and started yelling at him and punching his back as he headed towards the stream.

"No, no, don't I can't swim!" I yelled. Nico laughed.

"Well, have a nice dip," he cackled and dumped me in the water. I screamed as I fell in. I started shivering, the water was cold. It wasn't too deep though. I carefully climbed out and squeezed the water out of my clothes. The idiot of a boy was still laughing.

"Can you swim?" I asked casually to Nico. He shook his head.

"I'm a child of Hades, what do you expe-hey what!" I cut him off by pushing him into the water. I giggled and laughed as he shivered.

"Dude, I'm not wearing a shirt!" yelped Nico.

"Your fault you didn't want it 'wrinkled'," I laughed. I felt his hand grab my ankle.

"No, don't you dare!" I screamed. I didn't even finish my sentence before Nico pulled me in.

We messed around in the water a bit. Nico got out and stuck his wet hand out. I grabbed it and he helped me out. I felt like dropping down because of my wet clothes. We walked back to the house, laughing and shoving each other as we walked. I looked at Nico. His teeth were straight and white, quite the opposite of his dark brown eyes. His wet black hair flopped over his eyes.

We walked into the house to be greeted by Percy and Annabeth holding towels for us.

"Percy, why do you have a towel? Can't you dry yourself?" Nico asked, drying his hair.

"Yes, but best to keep a spare towel with me," Percy answered.

I walked upstairs to change into dry clothes. Annabeth followed me and started grilling me on what happened and what's with me and Nico getting all comfy together and so on. I gotta admit, he's not so bad anymore. We might've had some arguments but we've both changed.

Annabeth and I walked downstairs again to see Percy and Nico waiting.

"Where's Grover?" I wondered.

"I'm here?" bleated a voice from under the stairs. "It's cosy here."

"Let's head off for a walk?" suggested Nico. We agreed and packed our stuff up. We left the house here in case we had to come back.

I walked upstairs again with Annabeth to put on armour and grab my bow and arrows. I had 2 quivers of 64 arrows. Annabeth took out her knife and strapped it to her arm.

"Just like old times, Annie, only you're older," I smirked. "And in loooooove."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and slapped my arm lightly. "Oh, please, I'm not the only one in 'loooooove'."

I blushed at the thought of Nico.

"No, seriously, I can totally see you guys crushing on each other," Annabeth giggled, like an Aphrodite child.

"No, we don't," I said defensively.

"Yes, you do. Explain the water thing then," Annabeth pointed out.

I stood there stunned. Annabeth laughed and grabbed my arm. "Come on, let's go."

**A/N Who's POV should I write next? I have no particular order... Also Thalia and Nico's POV are so fun to write! Annabeth is pretty hard. Oh, well, I hope you liked this chapter!**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! 2 VERY important messages for you! PLEASE READ OR YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED IN THE FUTURE! OK, first off, I'm not going to increase the romance. It's too awkward for me to write, knowing my big sister and best friend could be reading this and that would be weird for me. Secondly, I'm planning to stick to Thalia and Nico's POVs only, as I find it much easier to write as my personality is similar to theirs. You guys probably like my Thalia and Nico POVs more than the other's. If you are against these ideas, please PM me or leave in a review. ALSO, I'm not getting notified whenever I get a review, part of the reason for the delay of this chapter. Thank you so much for reviewing!**

**This chapter is for a fellow friend with the FF username Cylissia. Sup, this chappie you should like :P**

**Here is the next chapter!**

**PERCY**

I waited impatiently downstairs with Grover and Nico for the girls to hurry up. Nico was walking about slapping whatever he came into. I was tapping my foot. Curse you, ADHD. Grover was still under the stairs, playing on his reed pipes. I never know how we almost die and he still manages not to lose them. Unless he has several sets. Ugh, my mind is getting angry.

Finally, after what seems to be a year, Annabeth and Thalia race each other down. Annabeth made it before her, thanks to her pushing Thalia a bit.

"That wasn't fair, Annie," scowled Thalia, rubbing her arm where she hit it against the wall.

Annabeth smirked and walked over to me.

"Hello," she whispered kissing me. I kiss back, of course.

"Come on, lovebirds, are we leaving or not?" Nico's impatient voice broke through my thoughts.

Annabeth and I broke apart, flushing red. Nico smirked and shook his head. Thalia snickered. Grover stopped playing his pipes.

"Continue on, Grover," I called. Everyone laughed, including Grover, but he did continue blowing.

Thalia nursed her hand. She must've burned it, you know that hot feeling when you rub your hand over something fast (A/N FRICTION but let's pretend Percy's too stupid and doesn't know ^.^).

"Serious injuries, Thalia?" sniggered Nico. He may be 16 now but is still immature like an 8 year old.

"No, I think I just got a little burn," she murmured, examining her hand. Nico's face dropped and he stepped towards Thalia.

"I'm so sorry, Thals! I reckon I'm stronger than I look, I don't even know how hard I pushed you, I thought it was just a little shove-" Annabeth rambled. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and calmed her down. She was still shorter than me, which was better than it was 5 years ago (**A/N** **Titan's Curse, Annabeth was taller).** Her eyes had gathered slight tears at injuring her best friend. I kiss her nose softly and she calms down a bit.

"Don't worry, Annabeth, it's not that bad," Thalia reassures.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Nico corrected. "Slight bleeding due to the graze on the stone, could get worse, a small blister..."

Thalia winced as Nico examined her hand. "Anyone have a bandage and nectar?" asked Nico. Grover rummaged around and handed Nico his requirements. Nico carefully poured the nectar on Thalia's wound. Thalia flinched. When the nectar was soaked in, it looked much better than before. Nico then wrapped her hand in a bandage.

"Thanks," Thalia muttered to Nico.

"No, worries," Nico answered, putting away the extra nectar and bandages.

"Since when did you know how to do these things?" I asked. Nico froze in his tracks of shutting a chest, letting it drop down with a loud crash. Oops, I hit a sensitive spot.

"Uh, Mama did this once to Bianca when I was really little," he muttered. "I remembered and back then, Mama knew Bianca was a demigod and she knew to use nectar. Only I didn't know what it was then."

I rubbed his shoulder sympathetically. Nico shrugged it off. It wasn't a harsh move but it showed he wanted to be left alone for a while.

Nico walked out the door and sat near the stream. Thalia frowned and followed him. I felt pretty bad I upset him. I watched Nico gather a faraway look in his eyes. Annabeth looked at me.

"I feel kinda bad," I admit to Annabeth. She hugged me.

"It wasn't your fault, I mean, he's always touchy about these topics," she pointed out. "Like, remember when he was so obsessed in finding out what happened to his mom?"

I nod. "Well, when he found out, he's like thin glass when we talk about parents and things," she said.

"I just wish I could do something to make him feel better," I sighed.

Annabeth patted my hand. "He'll get over it. He just misses his family," she said.

I looked out to Nico and Thalia. They were talking softly, too soft for me and Annabeth to hear. I saw Thalia pat his back. Then they both stood up and headed back towards us.

"Hopefully, they're all better now and will stop shedding tears every so often," Annabeth muttered, under her breath.

Thalia and Nico walked in. "So, are we leaving?" Nico asked, breaking the silence.

"Um, yeah, sure," we all muttered breaking out in a strange chorus thing.

I strapped on the blue diamond armour **(A/N: Non-gamers, Minecraft has diamond armour that is BLUE! Light blue! Cool, eh?)** and pulled out my new diamond sword. According to Nico, this thing would light up in flames when I struck something, as well and knock them back. I still felt more comfortable with Riptide, or Anaklusmos, but I guess having a sword to set things on fire with would be pretty useful as well.

Grover kept on his tree bark chest plate. It was the same one he used in the Battle of Manhattan, it should've fallen apart by now but he refused and kept it on. It would surely break, but he said no. He kept his reed pipes with him, along with an arrow he wanted to fix for some reason.

Nico, like me, strapped on blue diamond armour with the same sword as me. He scowled when he saw it was bright blue, unlike his black Stygian blade, but when he remembered he was living in his video game or whatever, his face lit up all over again.

Thalia didn't wear armour, which we were all worried about but she told us to relax. She had a whole sack of arrows and I don't even know how much arrows there are there! Her bow was shimmering a bit, some enchantment that I forgot.

"You still good at archery? After being stripped from a Hunter?" Annabeth asked, worriedly.

Stripped from a Hunter? Since when? I realized I must've said it out loud, unless someone else said it too.

"When were you not a Hunter?" Grover bleated, questioningly.

Annabeth, Nico and Thalia looked at each other. Wait, Nico?

"You guys gonna spill or am I gonna have to make you?" I fake hissed, sarcastically.

"Oh wow, Kelp Brain, I am up for a challenge," Nico mocked, dully. I winced a bit. Nico had grown taller and stronger over the last 5 years or so, he might be a pretty big challenge for me to defeat.

"Oh, bring it on," I smirked.

"Why don't you boys have a nice little fight, Grover will be referee and I need to talk to Thalia," Annabeth muttered briskly before snatching Thalia out the make-shift house.

"Well, we are kinda out of shape...Up for a little spar?" offered Nico.

"It's on," I grinned. "Normal swords, not this highly dangerous diamond ones. Normal armour, if we have it and...that's about it. Five minutes to get ready. Deal?"

Nico smirked. "Deal," he grinned.

He walked to his bed-chest thing and started taking out Stygian blades and such, I don't even know what he was doing as we're already technically prepared. After a few minutes, he turned around, prepared, I suppose.

"Oh, you ready?" I challenged.

Nico's eyes glinted in the torch light. "Oh, so ready for this," he grinned and drew his Stygian sword. It was pure black and glittered in the light.

I pulled out Riptide and uncapped the pen. I watched it grow to its full size and turned back to Nico. Grover took out his pipers and played a sharp note, as a whistle, I guess. I started off and lunged at Nico. If he didn't deflect the blow, it should've cut his chest plate but he disappeared. There was a push on my back and I fell forward in surprise, dropping my sword in the process.

I turned around and saw Nico standing there with his sword at his neck. "Shadow Travel," he smirked. "It's awesome, especially in this torch light where there are _shadows_."

I cursed lightly under my breath. Why didn't we go outside where it was sunny and _had no shadows_? I picked up Riptide where I dropped it and swung forward. I had expected Nico to drop his sword but this wasn't the 13 year old midget of a boy I used to help with sword sparring. Instead, it was the same boy, only a foot taller and stronger, not to mention. Instead of dropping his sword like I'd imagined, he simply pushed his weight onto his sword. Nico currently had the upper hand, seeing as he was standing which gave him more force. I pushed my sword forward and eventually I was able to jump up.

Nico took a step back and threw his sword. Huh. That was pretty stupid. I kept my eyes on the sword to avoid getting decapitated and forgot about Nico, which was a big mistake. When the Stygian sword hit the stone behind me, I looked to the front again, only to see Nico was gone. Sore loser.

"Give up yet, Jackson?" sneered Nico from behind me. I shivered when I looked at his as he looked like his father. A scary resemblance.

"Never," I wheezed. No way was I going to go down by a 16 year old. An extremely powerful 16 year old. When I was 16, I was fighting Kronos!

"Wait, stop for a minute," I said, dropping my sword. Grover blew the sharp note on his pipes again.

"You forfeit?" snickered Nico.

"No, far from it. "

Nico frowns and drops his sword.

"Using magic is cheating," I stated. "You stop using your powers and fight properly, like a man, or I'll use my powers and blow you out of this house."

Nico swallowed visibly but nodded, numbly and grinned.

"Good, let's start again."

Grover blows his pipes again. "Ok, no powers you guys or the other person automatically wins. Besides, you're out of shape!"

Nico lunged forward and gave a slash, cutting my arm, not deeply but deep enough for blood to seep out. I cursed and pushed forward, putting as much strength as possible on my sword, which was sparring with Nico's. Nico eventually fell down his knees but disappeared, causing me to fall down.

"Oi! No magic!" I yelled from the floor whilst picking myself up.

"Sorry, I'm used to it," he said from behind me, not sounding very apologetic.

"Keep your word or I'll use water," I threatened.

"Fine, fine, fine," he scowled, glaring at me.

I winced at his glare. I tried to look away but there was something in Nico's eyes that made me stay put. Suddenly, I was pulled into a haze.

_*Hazey Vision Thing*_

_There were lights flashing about crazily. Music blasted loudly. There was a small boy sitting on the ground with a taller girl kneeling next to him. I don't know why and how but I knew who they were and where I was. At the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The 2 children were Nico and Bianca. A man came up to them and pulled them up. It must've been Alecto when she was the lawyer who took them out._

_*End of Hazey Vision Thing*_

I snapped back to see Nico, Grover, Thalia and Annabeth leaning over and peering down at me. I jumped in shock but calmed down when my eyes focused.

"What happened? How long was I out for?" I gasped.

"You were out about and hour. You just fell down. I don't know why. I didn't use magic or anything," Nico explained.

Strange.

**A/N OK, that's a wrap for now! I originally meant to post this about 2 weeks ago. So sorry! To make up for ya, here's a tiny, literally tiny, preview of the next chapter!**

_"Are you sure about this? I mean, it's dangerous, look at what happened to him! He's half dead and we're near the mark of no ambrosia and nectar! Please, if you must go, we're going with you."_

_I looked at the rest of them. "Sorry, this is something us dudes gotta do," I said sadly._

**Well, that's a wrap for now, follow and favorite, leave a review and await patiently for the next chapter! ^.^**


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